Then Sings My Soul
2021 · 14m · Canada
Directed by Susan Rodgers
Genres: biography, documentary, musical
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tender
In rural Prince Edward Island, father of four Chad Matthews fishes part-time and performs Stompin' Tom Connors songs, turning to music to cope with low-wage work.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Everyone expects the Stompin' Tom doc to be a straightforward working-class anthem, so Rodgers wisely refuses — instead she lets the gap between exhaustion and joy do all the heavy lifting, which is braver than any formal subversion could be.
There's a deliberate restraint here that places Rodgers in conversation with the Canadian documentary tradition of patient observation; the film knows exactly when to let silence and performance speak rather than narrate, a choice that distinguishes it from more sentimental biographical work.
The decision to let Chad's own performance of the songs carry the emotional weight rather than underscore with music creates this devastating economy — you watch a man's entire inner life compressed into a few Connors choruses, and it works because Rodgers trusts the viewer to find the story in his voice.